Christians have been bullied by some atheist scientists for a long time.
Scientist: “You Christians are so naïve to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. It’s impossible for the dead to return to life. There is no scientific proof for it. That takes more faith than I possess.”
Christian: “You scientists are so naïve to believe that something came from nothing, or that order came from chaos, or that life came from non-life. That’s impossible. There is no scientific proof for these claims. To believe these things requires more faith than I possess.”
Scientist: “These things happened, therefore they’re possible.”
Christian: “The resurrection of Jesus happened, therefore it’s possible.”
Scientist: “Did you see Jesus rise from the dead? Where’s your evidence?”
Christian: “Did you see something come from nothing? Did you witness order emerge from chaos? Did you observe life come from non-life? Where’s your evidence?”
Scientist: “All things come from nothing.”
Christian: “All thing comes from God.”
It takes as much faith to be an atheist scientist as it does to be a Christian. This isn’t to imply that both the atheist scientist and the Christian have no real evidence for the claims they make, and both are just blind leaps of faith. Christianity is to be measured using the laws of history, whereas scientific claims are measured by different criteria. The resurrection of Jesus is a historical claim, not a scientific one. That water boils at 100 degrees Celsius is a scientific claim, not a historical one. Science cannot prove or disprove the historical claim that Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States. Science cannot prove or disprove the historical claim that Jesus rose from the dead. Yet the atheist scientist, arguing from the presupposition that there is no God and not from evidence, declares that resurrection from the dead is impossible.
It’s interesting that some scientists right now are working on their own genre of impossibility. The principle of quantum mechanics suggests that particles can exist in two separate locations at the same time. Now particles are matter, yet I’ve always thought that matter could only be in one place at one time. This is the whole premise of the alibi. If the police thought I committed a crime, but I can prove I was miles away at the time the crime occurred, I have an alibi and, therefore, am no longer a suspect. But in a quantum world, the alibi goes out the window. What we thought were rules constraining matter no longer apply. What we thought was impossible is possible in a quantum world. Miracles are possible in God’s world.
Some would argue that the impossible is possible when it actually happens. I agree. This is why I believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It actually happened. The impossible happened – which means it’s not impossible – at least for God.
None of this is meant to disparage scientists, much less science. Science is a noble pursuit. Yet science is not free of its creedal statements – statements of faith.
Some scientists have this creed – “I believe science will answer all of man’s questions about origins and meaning and purpose.” There is no evidence for this. This is a faith statement – it’s a statement of hope. It is very unscientific.
Some scientists have this creed – “If it’s not matter, it doesn’t matter.” There is no evidence for this. This is a faith statement. In fact, the one saying this should not be listened to for his/her thoughts are not matter – they can’t be seen or weighed or tasted or felt. Their thoughts aren’t matter, therefore they don’t matter.
Some scientists present themselves as hard-nosed materialists. And yet this is a metaphysical claim – there’s no proof that only matter exists and only matter matters. Non-matter matters, too. Meaning and purpose and morality and love aren’t matter – yet they matter – they exist. Matter without the non-matter of purpose and meaning and morality and love would be matter that didn’t matter much.
All of us – Christians and atheist scientists – inhabit the same world where matter matters and non-matter matters. They are not mutually exclusive – they don’t cancel each other out. They blend together in the wonderful symphony of life. We live in material bodies inhabited by immaterial souls waiting in hope for the full promise of eternal life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!
